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SSAT Essay

Hey! I was wondering about the ssat essay. I know that it doesn't count for your ssat score, but the school will see it. I cannot write essays very quickly, and the essays that I have tried writing for the ssat practice tests have come out in the unoriginal introduction, firstly, secondly, thirdly, in conclusion formula. Will this effect the school's decision? (I am applying to Andover and possibly Exeter)

Replies to: SSAT Essay

the school may be able to see it. Since you hand write it, its hard to disseminate to the many schools that you apply to. The only reason they may look at essay is if it completely doesnt jive with your application essays. For instance if you get a super low score on ssat essay, but your app essays are professionally written, then they start to wonder. Beyond that, an ssat essay is a formula of paragraphs that you should follow, and you wont have a problem, it doesnt matter that they are boring and unoriginal, thats not what the graders are looking for.

I have heard many things about this, but I agree with mhmm. They understand that you are constrained for time. They probably expect your application essay to be better (otherwise it implies you barely spent two hours on it) than your SSAT essay.

If I were an admissions officer (and I certainly am NOT), I would look pretty closely at the 30 minute ssat essay. It shows how well a student can think on their feet and how well they can articulate their arguments. I would read mainly for content, forgiving spelling and grammar.

Most of these schools' classes are discussion driven. If an applicant can manage to present a sound argument with thoughtful examples "on the fly," I think it says a lot about how well they would do around the Harkness table.

But what do I really know? Not much. It's just what makes sense to me.

Not sure why you think there's something wrong with the standard essay format. It's the best way to effectively argue a point in a short time. The idea is to write clearly so that the reader knows what you want to say and stay on topic. The idea is NOT to "sound smart," or to write using big vocabulary words. And don't be afraid to use personal examples as supports for your position. You definitely don't have to write about everything you just read in school Lots of luck to you.

CAUTION (I DON'T KNOW IF THIS TRUE): I heard that some administrators aren't even looking for correct information but that just want the essay to be well writen with the 6 parts. (ideas, organization, sentence fluency...) This was from reliable source...

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